Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was facing tough questions behind closed doors in Washington, D.C.  

“New York performed very well, given the circumstances,” he said.

A Republican-led House panel is investigating the Cuomo administration’s nursing home policies in the first weeks of the pandemic. Especially a directive from March 2020, which barred nursing homes from refusing people just because they had COVID-19.

“It defies logic for anyone that you would mandate nursing homes who are not capable. They were not capable of taking these COVID positive patients because they didn’t have the space to separate them,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Staten Island Republican, said.

For years, Cuomo has maintained that he was following federal guidance with his March 2020 directive and that other states had similar policies.

He echoed that refrain Tuesday, calling deaths in nursing homes a national tragedy while also defending his record.

“The federal government found that New York, in that first year, was number 39 in terms of pro rata deaths in nursing homes. Number 39,” he said. “And remember, New York had COVID first and worse.”

But Republicans accuse him of pointing fingers, and say unlike the federal guidance, New York’s directive was a mandate and likely cost lives.

Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro was serving as Dutchess County executive when the pandemic emerged.

“Hospitals were being pushed to get individuals with COVID back into nursing homes, and nursing homes were frightened to say no. Why? Because the state of New York regulates them,” Molinaro, who represents Oneonta, said. 

Cuomo also faced scrutiny for how his administration accounted for nursing home deaths. The administration is accused of under-counting in its publicly released data.

Cuomo’s interview was behind closed doors, and it’s unclear when a transcript will be released. 

The panel has already spoken to a handful of former members of Cuomo’s orbit. They are currently pursuing an interview with Cuomo’s former secretary, Melissa DeRosa.